Abstract
The time-space continuum that is media, seems all-absorbent in its features. Social media, mass media, and print media can be encumbering to the point where agenda setting is unavoidable. A company or brand sends a message exactly how they want it to be received. Through television specifically, they give a restricted set of choices (for viewing), to a relatively unrestricted population thus inciting marketing “tunnel vision”. Mainstreaming and resonance in cultivation theory suggests that lower-income people and families, based on their television viewing habits, tend to move closer to one another if they are high volume television consumers. Resonance is especially prevalent in television consumers who have been through similar situations to those they are consuming, and therefore “resonate” with them. The person who is resonating with the information and situation they are viewing, are essentially receiving a reinforced version of their own feelings. For example, someone going through a divorce may resonate with and be empowered by a character on television going through a similar situation. In some instances, a consumer may even try to emulate the emotions and phrases used by said television character in order to get through their own situation.